MSM – Methyl Sulfonyl Methane – Organic Sulphur
By Bryon Verhaeghe

Sulphur, also written sulfur, is a natural element.  Elemental sulphur is pale yellow with slight odour. This inorganic sulphur often ends up in the ocean, where plankton binds it to carbon to make it organic. Organic sulphurs have a much stronger and unpleasant odour. Evaporation from the ocean carries it through the rain to the land, and then plants absorb it. All life needs organic sulphur to survive. Over harvesting reduces the soil levels and this is why farmers in the olden days would rotate their crops. Some plants bind more sulphur than others. Well water has less sulphur than rain water. To increase the soil content we add sulphur to fertilizers but this is the inorganic form. Today we have factory farming and our diet is seriously depleted in sulphur. We have changed our farming practices and even organic grown foods do not contain the sulphur of the olden days.
Animals need more of this element for life than plants. Most of our organic sulphur comes from the ocean. Plants and animals from the ocean, particularly shellfish, are a rich source. This makes seafood healthy for us. Women in Iceland and Japan consume the most sea food and have the world’s lowest rates of breast cancer. Sulphur is the sixth most abundant macromineral in breast milk for healthy baby growth. (PMID:11896744)
One important use of sulphur in the body has to do with flexibility. The ability of hair and nails to flex without breaking, the rib cage to expand for breathing, tendons stretching without stiffness, joints to impact without injury, bones and teeth to flex slightly without cracking, and the lens of the eye to focus for close up reading, is due in part to sulphur. Collagen requires sulphur and when low, we have thin skin, thin lips, poor circulation, cold hands and feet, breathing problems, allergies, asthma, slow healing, sore and stiff muscles, constipation, brittle bones, bladder and menstrual problems, and even infertility.
MSM is organic sulphur that is harvested from the ocean. It is well absorbed from oral supplementation. It appears to be first used as a dietary supplement in horse racing. Racing on grass was a problem on rainy days with the horses slipping in the mud and hurting themselves. Changing to synthetic turf caused a great increase in knee injuries and shin splints (bone fractures). By adding MSM to their diet they found the horses to recover quickly and perform better. 
To study this they recorded exercise related changes and injury in 24 jumping horses involved in competition.  Three diet groups were established; control, MSM 8 mg/kg, and this amount of MSM plus Vitamin C 5 mg/kg.  The control group continued to have exercise induced injury while the other two groups did not.  They noted that the best recovery was the combination of MSM and Vitamin C.  (PMID:18992134)
A study was conducted on 50 men and women aged 40-76 years of age with knee pain (osteoarthritis). Intervention was randomized and double blind for 12 weeks with half placebo and the others received 3 gm MSM twice per day (6 gm/day total). Compared to placebo, MSM produced significant decreases in pain and physical impairment. (PMID:16309928)
Seasonal allergic rhinitis (SAR), a common allergy with runny nose, affects 23 million Americans and increasing. Fifty subjects completed a study and for 30 days took 2,600 mg MSM per day. On day seven, upper and total respiratory symptoms were reduced significantly from baseline. By week three, lower respiratory symptoms significantly improved. Energy levels significantly increased by day 14. (PMID:12006124)
MSM is also written as DMSO2, dimethyl sulfone, (CH3)2SO2, CH3SO2CH3, and methylsulfonylmethane. It is often found as a supplement in 500 mg tablets or capsules. I find that the capsules work better that the hard tablets and achieve best results when combined with salmon oil supplements. Bulk powder has little taste and one teaspoon is about 4 grams. It is also found in skin lotions and eye drops. In a future article I will write about the dangers of glucosamine, a common item in joint formulas and pet food.
References can be found by searching the PMID number at www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/PubMed.
   A short list of some common sulphur containing foods:

We at Rebound Health are always looking for ways to achieve optimal health. You are welcome to schedule a free diet consultation to learn about eating well. More information is on our “in progress” web site www.reboundhealth.com or call 2544 4055.